It is often necessary to measure the thickness of parts, such as aircraft parts, wing skins, spars, stringers, and other types of aircraft and non-aircraft parts. Some conventional apparatus and methods for measuring the thicknesses of these parts may utilize contact hand gauges, such as calipers and micrometers, or hand-held ultrasonic inspection gauges utilizing water and other couplant types. However, the use of hand gauges may lead to ergonomic issues due to repetitive use, may provide inconsistent results, and/or may take substantial time thereby increasing cost. Moreover, the amount of time required to use these hand-held devices may lead to oxidation of the part being measured when a liquid couplant, such as water, is utilized. Other conventional apparatus and methods may experience varying types of problems.
An apparatus and method for measuring parts is needed which may reduce or eliminate one or more problems of one or more of the conventional apparatus and methods.